I like Galadriel, she's probably the best and most complex female character in the whole thing (apart from Ungoliant), but I'm afraid old Grandalf must take my vote here.
The crusty old pipe-smoking hippy with a sharp tongue and a knack for fireworks, he's just excellent. No wonder the flower power generation wanted him for President - we can only dream what the world might have been like had he taken up office. Man.
I mean, he's an Odinic Wanderer, how utterly cool is that? Maybe if Galadriel had left the house now and then...
Tolkien did about as good a job as is possible in conjouring up the spirit of Merlin Himself for his story, and for all we joke about him uncloaking he's an elemental being and straight from the ancient real world - a 'magic elf' as the name translates in Old Norse.
++Gandalf
